THE CARVER BIRTHPLACE ASSOCIATION A NOT- FOR- PROFIT FRIENDS GROUP OF THE GEORGE WASHINGTON NATIONAL MONUMENT ANNOUNCES:

THE 1st ANNUAL GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER DINNER
“Celebrating and Promoting the Legacy of Dr. George Washington Carver:
In the Spirit of Discovery, Sustainability, and Humanity”
Tuesday, September 20, 2016
6:30- 9:30 PM
Keynote Speaker; Dr. Sherri Brown, Vice President, Science
Strategy, Monsanto Company
Knight Executive Education and Conference Center
Washington University in St. Louis, MO
For more information and tickets Call: (314) 610-5796

Dr. George Washington Carver
In his January, 2016 State of the Union Address to the US Congress, President Obama cited Dr. George Washington Carver, along with Thomas Edison and the Wright brothers, as nationally (and even internationally) exemplars of the “spirit of discovery”! As a contextual umbrella, the spirit of discovery connotes novel innovations that served to promote improvements in the economic and social conditions of the US and the world. Moreover, the spirit of discovery, framed in the context of human development and education, is equally applicable to efforts undertaken by a young person to discover one’s talents, attributes and passions, as was the case of Dr. Carver. His many novel accomplishments have been acknowledged as evidenced by Carver- named university and federal government buildings, a national monument, designated higher education academic programs, K-12 schools, museums and more. Yet, consistent with Dr. Carver’s observation that “we are in a pitiful condition today”(1), even a scant overview of the growing national divides; the plethora of international crises; the major increases in global population growth against rapidly expanding negatives bearing on the environment, its sustainability; critical issues such as water availability, food production and security, and extreme and sustained poverty; emerging agricultural and food workforce needs often obligating interdisciplinary education and practice; and constrained access to a quality education for many learners, in the aggregate, critically argue for judicious employment of the powerful lessons of Carver! Thus, the pressing tasks are to both clearly understand his lessons and effectively convey them – as guides for a life of significance and service to present and future generations of learners!
Objective of Annual Fundraising Dinner is to:

a) Celebrate the powerful legacy of Dr. George Washington Carver, who was not only a scientist and inventor, but an artist, musician, and liberally educated professional;

b) Recognize a much revered African American who, although born in slavery, possessed extraordinary psychological resiliency, multifaceted and brilliantly expressed talents, a steely capacity with which to effectively and purposefully respond to invidious soul-distorting characterizations of his being;

c) Promote better understanding of the lasting impacts of his many pioneering, innovative and novel accomplishments realized under decidedly adverse local, regional and national circumstances; as well as his demonstrable and remarkable ability to invoke new and necessary personal and shared identities that afforded him protection – at a very early age – against the social death required by the ethics and politics of enslavement, as well as the perverse influences of poverty that obtained throughout most of his childhood and even young adulthood; and

d) Then, purposefully, broadly, and sustainably employ his remarkable essence as a powerful example of the spirit of discovery , sustainability and exemplar personal and professional attributes to the decided benefit of present and future generations, especially youthful learner, through programming of the rehabilitated Neosho School attended by Dr. Carver and the affiliated interpretation and education center.
Thus, to enable us to reach the aforementioned objectives of the annual fundraising dinner, the net proceeds from this evening’s event will be assigned to the Neosho Schoolhouse Project and to the annual CBA student scholarship fund.